Source Of Light
by Drifting Moomba
Summary: Squall has been blind and mute for 3 years. A strange encounter takes him to a completely different world. But he finds his sight again. Will his new friends help him get home and find his voice?FF10FF8
1. Chapter I

Source Of Light

Chapter I

By Drifting Moomba

" How long is Irvine gonna make us wait while he mucks around in the shower? I don't wanna stay here any longer!" Selphie whined. Quistis, Irvine, Squall, Rinoa, Selphie and Zell had been waiting in their dorm for nearly half an hour now, waiting for Headmaster Cid to come and give them the new orders. 

Squall sat on the bed quietly while the rest of the group walked around pouting at the fact that Cid hadn't come yet. He was always quiet now, like he had been for a year now. It was beginning to get dark, but it didn't matter to him, it was always dark for him. 

" Squall, are you okay, you seem so sad today?" It was Rinoa's sweet voice. Squall just looked up at her with a bright smile and mouthed the words; " I'm fine, really".

Squall was blind and mute.For a year now, he had tried to make his life as happy as it was, but with not being able to speak with his friends properly or see them, it was difficult.   But yet he still couldn't quite believe how it had happened.

                                      ***********************

The car stopped outside the caraway mansion. Selphie was the first to get in the car, in the front seat, while Quistis, Rinoa, Irvine and Zell got in the back. Squall drove. It was about 10:00 at night and the 6 of them had been at the caraway mansion for a celebration of the 20th year that the mansion had been built.

"You know Squall I wish we hadn't come so early, you know, that way we wouldn't have to wait for everyone" Selphie implied. " Yeah Irvine" Squall said sarcastically. 

Quistis, Rinoa and Selphie giggled at Squall's comment while Irvine had a 'yeah yeah' look on his face before pulling his tongue at Squall.

After driving through Delling City for another half an hour, everyone in the car was silent. Squall could see something coming towards them on the road. He could tell it was a car or a truck because it was swerving slightly and had its headlights on way too bright. Squall realised that whoever was driving this car was not going to pull up and swerved the car out of the way.

Then it happened.

The vehicle in front was a truck. With a very drunk driver. Squall's car collided with the side of the truck. The small car flew out of control and fell down the side the road tumbling a few times, before hitting a lamppost.

******

Bright blurry lights were all Squall could see. He could hear people talking and yelling. Then he remembered. The car crash. He then figured that he was in the hospital. Rinoa, Quistis, Selphie, Zell and Irvine were all in the car with him. He hoped they were ok. The lights began to fade and he slipped into darkness.

The next time he woke up, he was lying on what he thought was a bed. Everything was blurred. He could just make out a white room. A hospital. 

Someone was in the room. "He's just woken up now, do you want me to go and get her now...ok, I'll send her in" There was the sound of a phone receiver being put down, then a door opening and closing. He looked around. He was dressed in his usual black pants and t-shirt and he felt better than he had. His throat and eyesight were the only things that were wrong.

The door opened again and someone dressed in white hospital clothes walked in. Squall recognised it was Rinoa. He felt an overwhelming relief that she was ok. "Squall...I'm so glad you're awake" Rinoa bent down against the bed and hugged him. "Listen I know you can't see very well right now and your throat must be really sore...but I need you too listen to me carefully right now Squall." Squall noticed that Rinoa was having a hard time talking to him, she was choking on her voice through sobs. " Squall...the doctor said that...you're blind...and you won't be able to speak ever again..." She started to sob loudly and fell down next to him crying. He didn't know if the pain from the accident was worse or the pain he was feeling at the moment.

***********

That was three years ago…

"Squall, are you ready, we're going now" Rinoa's voice woke him from his daydream. He nodded his head and followed her and the rest of the group out of the dorms. They walked through the Garden and into the ship bay, where their ship, The Ragnarok, was docked, ready to be flown. 

Squall had learnt to find his way around the Garden and the ship. He quickly grabbed his bag from Rinoa and got into the ship while the rest of the group stayed and talked with Cid. 

After takeoff, the whole group had resided to sitting in the cockpit of the ship and talking, strangely, about bacon. "Oh come off it Irvine, e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y knows that the bits on the outside of the bacon is the best, cos it's crunchy!"

Selphie made a happy squealing noise at her last sentence. Irvine replied briskly, "Selphie darling, I know that your mind may have been a little on the slow side for the past month, but that is no reason to say the outside of bacon is the best. Truly, the middle bit is the b-e-s-t" Selphie poked her tongue out at Irvine. Quistis smiled to herself and decided that the talk about bacon was making her hungry. "Ok you two, that's enough about bacon, your making me hungry...and sorry Irvine but, t-r-u-l-y, the outside part of the bacon is the best"

Even after an hour, the group continued to sit in the cockpit. But for half an hour, no one had spoken. The only noise heard was the constant tapping of the pen Squall slowly tapped on the windscreen.

The engines on the ragnarok began to make strange noises. Selphie quickly got up and went to the control panel. " Um, guys...the engines are having a few problems..." Selphie said with a quavering voice. The right engine began to shake violently. "Um, guys, I think we should land and find out-" BOOM!

The engine exploded. The side of Ragnarok burst into flames and the ship began to fall. The left engine blew and the whole ship began to nose dive. "AAAAAAAHHH!" They all flew backwards with their seats and hit the wall behind them. "Prepare for the impact!" Screamed Selphie. Squall and Rinoa flew backwards and fell into the open elevator. The ship hit the hard ground and skidded on the nose. It flipped upwards, hitting the side of a rocky cliff and turned over onto its back.

Darkness. Squall couldn't hear anything. Everything had gone quiet and everything was a mess. He felt around. His hand brushed across a piece of metal and sliced his palm. He cringed pain and held his hand. His head felt dizzy and he slowly drifted off into a deep sleep.

**_Authors Scribbles: So what do you think? Please please please review!!!!!!!_**


	2. Chapter II

Source Of Light

Chapter II

By Drifting Moomba

..~**~..

He awoke on a hard moist ground. His head didn't feel as dizzy but he felt like he had just woken up. He got up onto his feet and opened his eyes. 

He was taken from being in a world of darkness and nothingness. He was freed from his prison of uncertainty. It hurt his eyes, to see actually see something. All the colour…the shapes…

He couldn't believe it. He could see trees. Large overgrown trees with moss growing all over the ground and around the roots. Light green vines wound around the base of the tree and down into some small shrubs. He guessed he was in a rainforest. He blinked a couple of times and pinched himself to see if he was dreaming. _Nope not dreaming. _He then checked his voice. _Nope voice still not registering._ He still couldn't believe that he could see for the first time in nearly 3 years! His happiness was slightly shattered when a hard metal object hit him across the head. He jolted forward and fell down onto his knees rubbing his head.

"Oh no! I am so sorry! I didn't realize that you were a person; I-I just thought you were a monster before I saw you! I am so sorry!" Squall tilted his head up, stood up and turned around. He saw a young lady behind him. He guessed she was the same age as him. She wore a long purple skirt and criss-crossed white shirt. On her arms were long white and pink sleeves and she had a yellow piece of material that separated her white shirt and her skirt. In her hand was a large metal staff, which he guessed she had used to hit him with. 

He smiled at her and waved his hand. Seeing that he was not angry she smiled back. "My name is Yuna. Here, let me take you to my camp and meet my guardians" She led him through the forest, but stopped before she reached the campsite. "What's your name?" She asked. Squall didn't answer, he couldn't. Instead he just looked pointed to his throat and shook his head.

 " Oh...you can't talk..."

Squall nodded his head. " Don't worry" She took him into the campsite.

The campsite was a small clearing in the forest. Four long logs circled a campfire. The fire was huge and was lit by a log that had been chopped in half. There were four others there. On the log closest to him, was what Squall thought, looked like a blue lion with armour on. On the log next to the blue lion was a lady. She had a large purple dress with the front cut out to reveal hundreds of belts. On the log next to that, were two people. One was a young girl that looked slightly younger than him and Yuna. She smiled and winked at him. The last person there was sitting next to the young girl; he was a guy about the same age as Squall and Yuna. He waved at Squall and smiled.

 " Ok" Said Yuna, " This is Kimahri" She pointed to the blue lion. " This is Lulu" She pointed to the dark lady. " This is Rikku, my cousin" She pointed to the young girl with the perky blonde hair. She smiled and winked at him again. " Hiya! Nice ta meet you!" She said. She seemed very bright and bubbly. _A  Selphie..._ " And last, but certainly not least, is Tidus!" The guy next to Rikku looked up and waved up again. " Hey, nice to meet you to man, um, what's your name?" Squall remained silent and looked at Yuna.

 Yuna nodded at Squall and turned to her friends. " He can't talk, but we can still try and find out his name though" She said. Tidus spoke up. " Hey can we guess! We'll turn into a game, the person that guesses his name gets 50 Gil, ok?" Yuna looked at Squall. " I'll be the judge! But first you have to try to tell me your name, so I know, what do you think Squall?" Squall nodded his head at Yuna and they both turned their backs to the group. " Ok so what does it start with?" Yuna asked. Squall made an imaginary S in the air. " S! Ok, next letter" Squall then made a Q in the air. " Q! Yay! I'm getting good at this!" Squall finished spelling his name out. " Is it Squall?" Squall smiled and nodded his head. She smiled back and they both turned to the group. " Ok Tidus start guessing!" Yuna and Squall walked over to the empty log and sat down. Tidus put his hand on his chin. " Is it...Tidus Junior!" Squall looked up in completely shocked.  "No way!" Yuna yelled. " Ok, Ok so it's not that..." Tidus said.

"Definitely not" Yuna sighed. 

A short while later after Tidus had guessed over 100 names and was still guessing. A man dressed in large yellow pants and a colored top with straps walked into the campsite. Yuna pointed to him. " This is Wakka!" Squall looked up at him and smiled. " Hey good ta see ya! How long have you been here, ya?" Yuna looked back up at Wakka. " He can't talk... I found him in the forest" Wakka sat down next to Lulu " Don't worry man...even though you can't talk...we'll get along fine!" Squall smiled back at him, happy that they all welcomed him. He still wondered though, where he was. Yuna told Wakka about the game and he decided to join in. " Oh and Wakka, its definitely not Wakka Junior" Yuna said. 

" Damn..." He replied.

After what seemed like half an hour, Tidus and Wakka decided to give up. " Ok fine we give up. We've told you every single name we can possibly think of " Said Tidus. " Ok, Ok his name is Squall" Said Yuna. Wakka and Tidus both nodded. 

Lulu looked up to the sky. It was nighttime and there was a new moon. "Yuna, Rikku it is best that we go down to the river now, then I suggest we all get some sleep" Yuna and Rikku both followed Lulu into the forest, towards the river. Wakka explained. " Whenever we get the chance to stop by a river the girls go to wash their clothes and have a rinse. So basically, don't go down to the river just yet"

Yuna, Rikku and Lulu were down at the river. It was a long river that stretched through the forest and trailed off into a waterfall at the edge of the forest. The three girls had put their clothes on some branches and were in the water having a rinse. " Yuna where did you find Squall? Was he alone in the forest? What was he doing?" Lulu asked. Yuna ran her fingers through her wet hair as she spoke. "Well I found him in a clearing in the forest and yes he was alone, but I don't know what he was doing because I accidentally hit him with my rod...I-I did not know it was person I thought it may have been a monster!" Rikku giggled slightly as she stepped out of the water to get changed. " Well he may as well travel with us until we can find out where he came from" Said Lulu. " Yuna all of your clothes are dry except your top, sleeves and bow, maybe you should take them down to the camp and let them dry by the campfire" Said Rikku as she tried to get her clothes on but failing and falling into the dirt. " Damn nylons..." She muttered. Yuna smiled and shook her head at Rikku.

Kimahri, Wakka and Tidus had fallen asleep. Squall sat in front of the fire. He watched the flames licking the sides of the black logs. The coals beneath the logs glowed with radiance and made a sizzling sound when something fell on them.  Sparks flew from the flames, glided up towards the trees and disappeared into the night. He kept thinking about where he was. The last thing he remembered was getting onto the Ragnarok...after that his memory went blank. Maybe all this was a dream, just a crazy dream...but he couldn't shake the feeling that this all seemed so real. Slowly he began to feel sleepy and walked over to where the others lay. He lay down and fell asleep hoping to wake up in his dorm.

Yuna, Rikku and Lulu came back to the camp. Everyone was asleep. Yuna hung her clothes up near the fire while Rikku and Lulu gathered moss to make a bed. Once the bed was made they laid down and slept. 

_Everything was quiet. The only thing he could hear was his slow and steady breathing. The ground beneath him began to shake. Flashes of light beamed into the atmosphere making the skies light up with radiance. He tried to shield himself from the light. His head hurt and he was no longer breathing. His lungs began to burn and his head throbbed with unknown pain. Everything went blank. Suddenly darkness turned to light. Street lights. His hands were on a steering wheel. In the revision mirror he could see her. In the back seat. Laughing, talking smiling. Images swam into his mind. He lost control of his body. His mind began to swim, turning throbbing. The piercing sound woke him from the nightmare._

"Aaaaaaaah!!!" Help! Aaaaaaah!! Get it off! Get it off! Aaaaah!" Squall awoke suddenly to Rikku screaming. A scorpion the size of a lion was on top of her, it's stinger ready. Everyone else was now awake.    " Rikku! Stay calm! Don't move!" Pleaded Lulu. With one swift movement Wakka threw a ball at the scorpion. It tumbled off Rikku and fell into the bushes. The scorpion got to its feet and scampered off. Rikku began to sniff and shake slightly from fright. Kimahri walked over and picked her up. Yuna scrambled over to her.  " It's okay Rikku, its gone now I promise" She said gently. Rikku nodded slowly and grabbed onto Kimahri tightly. " I suggest we pack up and continue on to the Shumi village" Lulu said "Its not much more further to go from here, if we leave now and keep up the pace, we will be there before midday" Everyone agreed.

In single file, the group walked through the forest. An old track wove through the trees and undergrowth. The path was once used for traders to come from the large cities to trade with other villages and the great city of Bevelle. A new path was made through the mountains and it was no longer used. Just the reason why they wanted to use it.

Through the whole journey to the Shumi village, no one spoke. Silently they each thought to themselves of how much they missed the people they were leaving behind. Yuna thought of the people of Besaid and the small children that she would play with and the elders she'd do jobs for. Wakka thought of the people of Besaid as well and his home. He adored his home. He had all his posters of famous blitzball people and little feather charms he used to make. Lulu thought of Chappu. He had died on that dreadful boat accident that had killed the whole crew. Kimahri, strangely, thought about bacon. Tonight he would kill a wild pig to sell to the village for money to give to the group. They needed more potions. Rikku kept thinking about the scorpion. On top of her it had looked twice as big as it really was. Tidus thought of Zanarkand. He wondered if he would some day get back home and that Sin was going to pay for what had happened to him. He clenched his fists at the thought. Squall thought of what had happened last. In the dorm. Talking to Cid. Got into Ragnarok. Get hit over the head by Yuna. It didn't make sense.

Just as Lulu had said, they made it to Shumi village by midday. As soon as they arrived they were greeted kindly and given a room to stay in at a motel.

As he had wanted to, Kimahri killed a wild pig and sold it for 200 Gil. Bacon was popular in the Shumi village. With the Gil they bought potions, strength raises and remedies.

Night quickly came. Yuna had bathed and dressed out her usual clothes into a purple kimono. She looked out of her window and saw Squall and Tidus standing at the on the jetty looking out into the ocean talking.

"You know, one day, I'm gonna buy a big boat and travel all around Spira! I'll be exploring cities and discovering new places and I don't know...but maybe Yuna might wanna, kinda, come along too...what do you reckon? Do you think she wanna do something like that, with a guy like me?" Squall thought for a moment. It was obvious that Tidus had the likes for Yuna. He wasn't so sure if they suited each other or not.

 Even so he nodded. Tidus smiled happily and looked out into the ocean. " I guess you and me are the same huh? We both don't know where we are, how we're gonna get home and when!" _Sadly... " You know back in Zanarkand, everybody's dream was to have the most Gil, a big boat and a really hot looking wife" _Yep, the same thing goes in people's minds where I come from too sadly. _" But here, I bet everybody's dream would be for Sin to be destroyed and everybody to live happily ever after." _Sin? What? Who's Sin?? _" Hey man, I'm just curious, but, how did you lose your voice?" Squall banged his two fists together. " A crash? Damn, I feel sorry for ya" They stood in silence for a while. " Hey you two! Come inside! I wanna talk to you!" It was Yuna. She was standing on the front porch of the motel yelling. " Listen, even though you can't speak, I like ya and I've had a great chat with you. We should talk more often eh? Well let's go see what the drama queen wants" _

They walked over to Yuna " Yeah? What's wrong Yuna?" Yuna shuffled a bit on her feet nervously. " Well everybody is asleep and I don't really want to go to sleep tonight. I want to practice my magic skills and using my rod. Could you two come out to the grass fields and help me?" Tidus answered straight away. " Yes mam, no problem!"

Yuna carefully tip toed upstairs and got dressed into her usual, newly washed clothes, then came down with her rod. " Okay let's go"

As they walked onto the grass fields the only light was the dimness of the street lamps from the village. The first thing they saw was mini-dragon. It was a red mini-dragon with glowing white teeth. Tidus took out his sword, Yuna took out her summoner rod and Squall took out his Gunblade. In two minutes it was dead.

After killing more than thirty monsters they were laying in the grass, exhausted. Yuna noticed bright lights, like stars, swimming around in the sky, coming closer. " Look Tidus, Squall! Fireflies!" They looked up at the lights. "Umm, Yuna? I don't think their fireflies..." The lights got bigger and brighter. The three of them stood up and looked at them curiously. Their vision blurred slightly as the brightness got too intense. In a flash, they were gone.

**_Author's Scribbles: Thankyou sooo much to everyone that is reading!_**

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**_The paradox: Thankyou soo much! You're my first reviewer…ever! I'll always hold a special place in my heart…erm…writing for you!_**

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**_Karla3: Thanks! And also thankyou for helping to write the scene at the start. Thank you so much!_**

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**_Karla helped me write the bit where Squall opened his eyes so he could see for the first time. Thanks Karla._**


	3. Chapter III

Source of Light 

**__**

Chapter III 

Lulu was awoken to the sound of someone screaming in the distance.

"Yuna!" She shouted. Everybody jumped out of bed and raced to the grass fields. Yuna's rod, Tidus's sword and Squall's Gunblade lay on the grass.

Wakka looked around. "They've been taken!"

************ Flashback

_"Male aged 18 present in a car accident with five others. Bad head trauma, damage to his optic nerve and severe damage to his esophagus, he may have a broken leg and a few broken ribs, lets get him down to the emergency ward now!"_

Squall slowly let his eyes open. Something had been poking him in the ribs. _Oh please let it be Rinoa's pet chocobo trying to wake me…_But unfortunately…it wasn't. It was a very skinny man with a pale tan. His straw hat sat unbalanced on his mat of gray hair. His eyes bulged out and he sat upright. " Yo Bubba! One's awake!"

This time, Squall took his attention over to a larger man sitting near a fire. It was then that he realized he was tied up and Yuna and Tidus were still unconscious next to him. He tried to move his hands, but it dawned on him that he was tied up. Yuna yawned beside him.

" Wha…?"

He looked her way and sent her a warning glance. She read his look immediately and sat stock-still. They didn't want them to know Yuna was awake. Squall looked back at the others. Tidus woke up this time. There was no hiding his sudden wakening.

" What the hell?! Hey!" 

The guy, supposedly named 'Bubba' walked over to him.

" Good morning" He laughed. His ringing laugh seemed to echoed in Squall's ears. It was so unknown…like a bell gone wrong.  Bubba shifted his gaze to Yuna, shrugged then headed back to the fire and continued eating. Squall prayed that maybe his luck could shift gear for once…

***

" Lu…where are we?"

" Wakka be quiet…I think I hear something…"

Lulu and Wakka both crouched down low. They peered into the darkness for any movement. Dimly, they could see a fire. The glow spread out across the overgrowth and onto the swamp, to their right. Slowly Wakka began to move forward. Lulu was reluctant, but followed soon after.

" Should we?" Lulu asked.

" Of course Lu! I bet that's them!"

* * *

Squall studied his surroundings. He had to find some way to distract them…He motioned over to Tidus. Once he got his attention, he immediately nodded and leaned up against a tree. He moved his back against the hard bark, hoping to cut the rope. It caught. Slowly, he began to rub the rope until it snapped. With his hands free he slowly crept up on the two criminals, thanks to his SeeD training. A tin was lying on the ground, full of hot red coals. When Squall got close enough, in one swift motion, he kicked the tin up, spraying the coal everywhere. The two men jumped up in front and hollowed in pain…trying in vain to get the red-hot pieces off them. Yuna jumped up and motioned to Squall He untied her and rushed over to Tidus. But…

Tidus was gone.

Yuna looked around them. " Tidus! Where are you!"  Squall picked up the remnants of rope and began to tie the two men against a pole that had previously been part of their tent. Then…he heard something in the bushes. Yuna spun around, fear imminent in her eyes. 

" Its okay it just us ya!" Wakka yelled. He walked out of the bushes slowly. Yuna ran into him, her arms spread. He caught her and hugged her bag. " Its okay…" Slowly Lulu came out too. She walked over to Squall and lifted her arms.

" Sleep!" The two men fell still. Yuna looked up Wakka. " Tidus, he's gone! Did you see him?" she asked. 

Lulu and Wakka both shook their heads. " Lets go back to see Kimahri, he's just over in the forest a few minutes away, we'll see if he's there" Yuna nodded slowly and walked over to Squall. " Thanks…you were really brave back there" He nodded solemnly and started walking into the forest. 

" Do you think he's okay?" Yuna asked. Lulu shrugged, " I'm not sure" They all walked in after him. Soon they all arrived with Kimahri. " Kimahri, did you see Tidus at all?"  Kimahri shook his head and raised his spear. " Find. Now"

They all agreed and returned to the campsite with the men still asleep. 

" Okay, Squall, Yuna and Kimahri go together and Lu and I will go together…oh! Here" He passed Yuna her staff and Squall his gun blade. " Okay, Lu lets go south and you guys go north, but don't go too deep. After 15 minutes come back here" They all agreed again and set off.

* * *

Yuna jumped over the fallen log. She made sure she didn't get her skirt caught. Carefully, she looked behind at Squall. She had noticed he seemed a bit…distant. She slowed down to let him catch up to her. 

" Squall. Are you feeling okay?"

He shook his head.

She glanced down. " You don't know much about this pace and it might not help to tell you or make you feel better…but I feel that you should know a little. Your probably not from Spira…are you?"

Again, he shook his head.

" Well…Spira is not the best world. We're plagued by Sin. Sin is an evil entity that kills our people and destroys our homes. The only way to kill it…is do perform a final summoning. I'm a summoner. So I can do that. That's why I'm on this pilgrimage" 

A sharp pain shot through his head. He placed a hand to his forehead and cringed in pain. Slowly he let himself fall on his knees. 

" And the only way to do…. Squall!"

His wolrd faded to black.

~Dream~

_Squall please wake up._

_" How…"_

_Just try to visualize us_

_" Us…who are you?"_

_You don't know?…have you forgotten me…_

_" Just please tell me!"_

_You promised you would never forget…_

_"…Rinoa?"_

_You promised…_

_"Rinoa!"_

_You forgot…_

p. 


End file.
